


trials of our youth

by vulcanistics



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 17:10:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8409838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanistics/pseuds/vulcanistics
Summary: “You look at him the way you sometimes look at me.” 
or,
a study of the beginning, continuation and ending of a relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [doubtthestars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubtthestars/gifts).



> \- i love polish ot3 so much, and this is my first time writing a poly ship and i hope it's okay.   
> \- the title is from coppertone by the academy is... because i am tai trash and i've been listening to fast times at barrington high on repeat for two days straight.  
> \- there are lots of temporal jumps and shifts in time, so it might seem a little bit rushed. sorry about that.

* * *

Maybe it begins with two boys.

 

Robert wakes up to find a photo of himself on the pillow next to him. It’s a black and white polaroid of him laughing. Robert studies the photo carefully - he’s sweaty and exhausted in it, collarbones visible below his  football jersey. He must have been laughing at some lame joke Woj had cracked. 

“Why are you giving this to me?” He looks at the boy sitting at the end of the bed. Wojciech has an unlit cigarette between his lips. He’s wearing his jeans from the previous night. Woj’s chest is decorated with darkening bite marks. Robert feels his cheeks heat up as he remembers Woj whimpering beneath him.

“It’s my favourite photo of you,” Woj says quietly. Robert frowns at the bitter tone of his best friend’s voice, Woj sounds upset. Robert thinks that maybe this is the point where Woj will tell him that he regrets sleeping with him. 

He swallows his anxiety and asks, “Is everything okay?” Robert eyes the cigarette Wojciech’s twirling between his fingers.

“I’m moving to England. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to upset you, but -” Wojciech stares at the photo of him and Robert that’s on Robert’s bedside table. Robert can barely breathe. He traces patterns on his wrist and mentally counts to twenty in his head. He thinks his heart might be breaking.

“When are you moving?” He wills himself to not let his voice crack. Robert blinks back tears.

“In two days,” Wojciech refuses to look at him ,“Lewy, I - I have loved you for most of high school and I thought it was pointless but then yesterday happened. I have been trying to ignore the fact that I’m leaving but god, I’m leaving in two days.”

“Get out.” Robert whispers, angry and broken. Woj looks at him then and Robert can see the tears in his eyes. Robert’s vision is blurry. “Get out of my house, Szczęsny.”

Wojciech looks like he’s about to protest, about to say something, about to kiss Robert one last time, but he does nothing. He picks up a t-shirt from the floor and pulls it on and leaves.

It’s only when Woj has closed the door behind him that Robert cries. It’s much later that he realises that Woj wore Robert’s t-shirt and left. He holds Woj's shirt in his hand and cries into it.

He deletes Woj’s contact from his phone, ignores his calls and texts. He doesn’t leave the house for three days.

 

Four days later, he walks past Wojciech’s house and stares at the locked doors and windows.

Woj is gone

 

* * *

Maybe it begins with a date.

 

Robert’s idea of a second date is a football match. Anna fiddles with the zipper on her jacket as she watches the striker race to the goal post. His movements remind her of a swan. Her eyes follow Robert as he kisses the ball with his feet. The ball dances away from him and settles at the back of the net.

When the crowd screams, Anna whispers his name to herself. 

 

Anna sits on the hood of Robert’s Fiat after the match. Robert takes fifteen minutes to emerge from the stadium and Anna can see that he has taken the effort to clean up. He smiles at her when he sees her. Anna wants to run her fingers along his sharp edges.

“Good game,” Anna smirks and lightly taps Robert’s chest. Robert’s gaze drops down to her hand and then shifts back to her face. Anna can’t see the piercing blue of Robert’s eyes in the poorly lit parking lot but she feels the steady heat of his focus.

“Can I take you to dinner now?” Robert asks, and Anna can hear his smirk. She leans forward and kisses him below his ear. 

"Only if I get to pick the restaurant."

 

* * *

Maybe it begins in a supermarket.

 

Wojciech stands in front of a display of dairy products. He doesn’t remember why he came to the supermarket. He sighs and turns away from the cheese.

The supermarket is deserted. Besides Wojciech, there's just the cashier and another customer. Wojciech’s gaze flicks to the customer who is talking on her phone as she grabs two cartons of milk. She looks familiar but he can’t remember where he’s seen her face. 

He doesn’t mean to eavesdrop but he hears her say, “I won’t be able to come for the match today. Got some assignments I need to complete.” She smiles softly at whatever the other person says, “You guys better win. Bye babe.”

“Interesting conversation?” She looks straight at Wojciech when she cuts the call.

Woj’s eyes widen at being caught but he shrugs, “There’s a football match today?”

She studies him for a minute, and Woj resists the urge to shift on his feet. Her gaze is unnerving. There’s something about her smirk that reminds him of Lewy. Deceptively dangerous, hard-edged, soft-centred; Woj blinks twice, he hasn’t spoken to Lewy in over five years. The woman in front of him smiles suddenly, and Woj is struck by the warmth of it.

“Ekstraklasa match at the stadium. Are you new in town?” When Woj nods, Anna offers her hand, “I’m Anna”

“Woj” He notes the way the corner of her lips turns upwards.

“My boyfriend knew a Woj.”

“It’s not a very rare name.”

Anna hums contemplatively, “Enjoy the match.”

Wojciech watches her walk away. It's when he goes to the cashier that he realises why her face looked so familiar. He remembers seeing her in paparazzi photos of Robert and his girlfriend. Anna Stachurska, Robert Lewandowski’s girlfriend of two years, recognised his name. Wojciech wonders how much Robert has told her.

He buys a carton of milk, a packet of instant noodles, a pack of cigarettes and a Snickers bar.

He smokes the pack of cigarettes in his car and doesn’t go for the football match.

 

* * *

Maybe it continues like this.

 

When Robert gets home, he finds Anna curled up on the sofa. She’s eating a fruit salad and glancing through one of Robert’s photo albums. He leans down to kiss her, her lips taste faintly like apples. He sits beside her on the sofa and leans against her warm solid frame.

“How was the match, coach?” Anna tilts her face slightly so that she can see his face.

Robert shrugs and nonchalantly replies, “We won.”

“Of course you did.”

“How was your day?” Robert asks and he feels Anna still beside him. She has the look on her face that she gets when she’s measuring out her words. Robert waits for her to respond.

“I met someone at the supermarket. He said his name was Woj.” Robert freezes and he stares at Anna.

“Was he -” Was he _my Woj_? Robert can’t bring himself to ask Anna that. It has been more than five years since Wojciech walked out of his life and Robert still calls him ‘my Woj’.

Anna completes his question, “Was he _your_ Woj? Yeah, it looked like him.” Robert exhales deeply and buries his face in Anna’s neck. His fractured heart beats rapidly in his chest. Woj was back. Woj and Anna met. Did Woj know he was here? Did Woj know who Anna was? Did Woj want to see him again? Did Woj still love him?

Robert relaxes as Anna gently rubs his back. What was he going to do if he saw Woj again?

 

* * *

Maybe it continues in a stadium.

 

Three weeks after he met Anna at the supermarket, Woj forces himself to visit the stadium where the local team trains. Robert is the only reason he's going there. Robert had assumed the mantle of assistant coach last year and Woj had followed his progress from England. He saw injuries steal a career as a footballer away from Lewy. He saw Robert fight back and grab a career in coaching. He’s a promising coach. Woj has read articles, watched the matches, studied the game of Robert’s team. He sees pale reflections of the football they played back in high school.

All those photos and articles don't prepare him for seeing Robert face to face. Woj sits in the stands and watches Lewandowski be an assistant coach. Lewy yells and shouts, mouth shaping instructions and praise. Woj’s chest aches.

Robert suddenly looks up at the stands and his hands fall still against his side. Woj thinks that Robert looks like he's seen a ghost, which wouldn't be that far from the truth. Woj has been gone for nearly five years. He lifts his hand to wave wearily at Robert. Robert narrows his eyes at him and shakes his head. He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, “Stay. I'll talk to you after practice.”

Woj stays.

 

Robert doesn't hug him when he comes up to him. He tugs at Wojciech's hand to get him to stand up. They walk out of the stadium in quiet comfortable silence.

It's Robert who speaks first, “Anna told me she met you at the supermarket. I was wondering when you'd show up.”

“Needed to settle down. Anna seems pretty cool.” Wojciech notes how Lewy smirks.

“She's incredible. You should come over for dinner. You can meet her.” Woj recognises the words for the things they leave unsaid. It's an invitation back into Robert’s life.

Woj laughs and throws his arm around Robert for a one-armed hug, he kisses the side of Robert’s head. Robert giggles and leans into him. Woj has missed this so much.

 

* * *

Maybe it continues at a coffee shop.

 

Anna beams  when she sees Wojciech sitting in the corner of the coffee shop. He’s staring out of the window, watching the cars go by. He startles slightly when she slides into the seat but relaxes when he sees it’s her. He grins toothily at her and Anna thinks of the man she’d seen at the supermarket. Woj had looked lost and vacant that day, but then Lewy had invited him over. Wojciech had been a delightful guest, full of humour and puns. Anna had never seen Robert laugh so much before, she hadn’t laughed so much before. It wasn’t hard for her to see why Robert had loved Wojciech. Woj brought out a side of Robert’s that was carefully hidden and tucked away. The night when Woj had come over for dinner at their place was the first time Anna had seen hints of it.

Woj pushes a cup towards her. “I ordered a cup of green tea for you.” Anna smiles fondly and gratefully raises the cup to her lips.

“Are you having your disgusting toffee nut caramel crunch espresso?” Anna scrunches her nose up as she observes the contents of Woj’s cup.

“It’s delicious. Shut the fuck up.” Woj sticks out his tongue at her.

They sit in comfortable silence, Woj’s working on something on his laptop. Anna assumes it must be related to his new job as a journalist at the local newspaper. Anna watches Woj’s fingers dart across the keyboard. He’s humming a vaguely familiar pop song under his breath. He’s wearing a shirt that Robert lent to him a week ago when he’d stayed the night at Robert and Anna’s place. They'd got drunk and Anna had refused to let Woj drive home drunk. Robert's shirt fits Woj Woj perfectly even though Robert's shorter than him. 

“Do you know that Robert is still in love with you?” Woj freezes and when he meets Anna’s gaze, his expression is closed off.

“What are you talking about?” Anna is almost impressed with how Woj is able to keep his voice completely neutral. His entire posture looks like someone who’s on the defensive. Anna can see the tension in his shoulders.

“Robert. He’s still in love with you.”

“You can’t be in love with someone who walked out of your life five years ago. And besides, he’s in a committed relationship.” Woj smiles bitterly as he looks at Anna.

“You can fall in love with them again. Woj, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Fucking hell, I’ve seen the way you look at him.” Anna can feel the other people in the café glance at them curiously. She frowns, people really need to mind their own business.

“And how do I look at him?” Anna nearly groans, why were the men in her life so difficult sometimes?

“Like he’s the best thing to happen to you. Like you’re constantly trying to coax out a smile and some laughter from him and when he grins at you, it’s like you’re saving it to your mind.” Anna pauses to admire the pale pinkness dusting Woj’s cheeks, “You look at him the way you sometimes look at me.”

Woj turns pale and then the colour floods his face. “Anna, shit fuck, I’m sorry. I know it’s inappropriate and oh fuck, I never meant to.” Woj fumbles out an apology and awkwardly grimaces. Anna giggles at Woj’s red face. She finds it hilarious that Woj reacted to her last statement more dramatically than any of the other things she’d said. Woj was so clueless sometimes.

“Wojciech, have you ever noticed how I look at you? How Robert and I look at you?” Woj’s eyes widen and he gapes at Anna.

“Oh.”

 

* * *

Maybe it ends in an apartment.

 

Robert paces around the bedroom, munching on a Snickers bar. He’s fairly certain that Woj sneakily left the bar of chocolate for Robert to find. Robert smirks as he remembers the day Woj came over with a packet of chips and a few bars of Snickers, Anna had yelled at both of them. Woj had patiently listened to her and at the end of her rant, he’d offered her a bite of his Snickers. Anna had grabbed the Snickers from Woj with a glare and ate it. Robert shakes his head when he realises he’s standing in the middle of his bedroom, smiling off into space.

Robert runs his fingers through his hair. He’s counting on Anna to explain things to Woj. There’s the possibility that he and Anna were wrong, the possibility that Woj will say no, and Robert doesn’t need Snickers - he needs a beer.

The doorbell rings and Robert knows it’s Anna and Woj. He doesn’t run to get the door but it’s close. Robert sees Woj with his arm around Anna, Anna’s hand on Woj’s waist, and Robert grins.

Anna pulls Robert closer to them and lightly kisses him on the lips, “Hi Lewy.”

Robert laughs against her lips and then he feels Woj’s hesitantly rest his hand against the small of his back. “Lewy, is this okay?”

Robert thinks that he might cry. “Woj, it’s been five years. Can I kiss you?”

Anna intertwines her fingers with Robert’s and presses down on Woj’s hip. Woj grins and Robert leans up to kiss him.

 

* * *

Maybe the ending is the beginning.

  
_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> please do leave comments, kudos and criticisms. thanks for reading <3


End file.
